The national Under-22 football team should produce goods results in this month's SEA Games since the players had been playing together for many years, says Zaw Zaw, president of the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF).

Fighting for the chance to advance to the Asian Under 23 football qualifiers, Myanmar lost 0-3 to Australia in the last decisive Group F match in Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, on July 23.

Myanmar set up its line-up with a 5-4-1 formation against a strong Australia in the hope of securing one point from a drawn match. Five defenders were fielded in the defensive zone. But defensive blunders paved way for the visiting powerhouse team to enjoy goal chances.

The fixtures for Group F of the 2018 Asian Under 23 qualifier organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will be held in Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon from July 19-23.
Myanmar will play Australia, Singapore and Brunei in that group. The match against Australia is likely to be the key one in order for Myanmar to book a place in the 2018 Asian Under 23 championship.

In preparation for the upcoming SEA Games, the Myanmar women’s football team will train in Osaka, Japan, where they will also play a friendly match against Japan.

The Myanmar team will undergo training in Osaka from July 13 to 24. Previously, the team trained with 27 players since May 30, but two athletes have been taken off the roster for the match against Japan.

The Myanmar team includes both veteran and rookie footballers.

The schedule for the SEA Games will be announced in the second week of August.
Translated by May Aung Shwe

Myanmar’s U-22 and U-18 teams are preparing to play friendly matches with the Inter Milan youth team on August 11 and 13, respectively.

Although the dates for the friendly matches were initially set for August 12 and 14, the schedule was changed as start date for SEA Games, in which the U-22 team will compete, was changed to August 14.

The friendly matches will be held at Thuwanna Stadium. Entrance fees and times will be announced by the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) later.